Seeing Machado again, Lansford on the ’89 team and Friday’s lineups

Steve Kroner subbing for Susan Slusser for the opener of a three-game series at the Coliseum between the AL East-leading Orioles and the AL West-leading A’s:

This is the first meeting between Baltimore and Oakland since the escapades in Camden Yards, June 6-8, that ultimately cost Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado a five-game suspension.

Not surprisingly, both Machado and the A’s downplayed any lingering emotions for this series:

“I served my suspension. I did what I needed to do. I said my apologies,” Machado said. “Now, it’s time to play baseball. Baseball is a game (in which) you forget about the past.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said he doesn’t “expect anything” in terms of a carryover response from Machado getting upset with a Josh Donaldson tag and, more egregiously, flinging his bat beyond third base after a pitch came close to hitting him. “Six weeks has been water under the bridge,” Melvin said. “I don’t know that anybody here is even talking about it, so it’s a non-event for me.”

The Oakland fans might not be as willing to forgive and forget about Machado’s antics. How does Machado expect to deal with the fans’ reaction?

“Take it how it is,” he said. “It’s part of the consequences. It’s part of the game.”

The A’s are honoring their 1989 World Series team this weekend; the main ceremony comes before Saturday night’s game. This afternoon, third baseman Carney Lansford talked about how good that Oakland team was 25 years ago.

Said Lansford: “The biggest compliment is when I talk to Tony La Russa and he says that ’89 team was the best team he ever managed – and that saying a lot because he had some pretty darn good ones in St. Louis, too, and a pretty good one in Chicago. It means a lot coming from him. He wouldn’t lie about that.”

Also: Melvin said outfielder Josh Reddick (knee injury) will play in three more minor-league rehab games and then be re-evaluated Sunday. … Sacramento outfielder Shane Peterson homered in three consecutive at-bats Thursday night in the River Cats’ 10-9, 10-inning victory at Albuquerque. He had two chances to hit a fourth HR but grounded into a forceout and struck out.